Everyone here is PARTIALLY right but missing some details. For PFL baby bonding: 1) No weekly certifications needed 2) You MUST file the claim within 41 days of your baby's birth or you risk losing benefits 3) There's a 7-day waiting period if you didn't already serve it for SDI 4) Benefits come bi-weekly automatically AFTER your claim is approved. I work in HR and see employees mess this up constantly. Also, be prepared for your first PFL payment to take 2-3 weeks to process after approval, so have some savings ready for that gap.

Just went through this exact transition 6 months ago! The biggest thing that helped me was keeping all my documents organized in one folder - birth certificate, doctor's clearance letter, and the DE2501F form. I submitted my PFL claim 3 days before my SDI ended and it was seamless. One thing nobody mentioned - make sure your employer knows about the transition too because they might need to adjust your leave status in their system. The automatic bi-weekly payments are SO much better than those weekly certifications. Good luck with your little one!

UPDATE: Finally got through to EDD this morning! Turns out there WAS an issue with the birth date vs. application date like someone here suggested. The agent said my claim got flagged because I applied before my son was born, and it got stuck in some review queue. She manually updated it with the birth certificate info and said I should see payment within 7-10 days. They're going to backpay for the 3 weeks I was off work. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! This process is way more complicated than it needs to be.

Congrats on getting it resolved! This is such a helpful thread for other dads going through the same thing. I'm currently dealing with a similar situation - applied for PFL in late December and still waiting. Based on what you shared, I'm going to call tomorrow and specifically ask about the birth date vs application date issue. It's ridiculous that this is such a common problem but EDD doesn't warn people about it upfront. The fact that your wife's disability was approved so quickly while your paternity leave took over a month really shows how broken the system is for fathers trying to bond with their newborns.

Has anyone tried going to the unemployment office in person? I'm wondering if that might be faster than dealing with the phone/online stuff.

This is such a common issue unfortunately! I went through the exact same thing last year. The upload confirmation on their end doesn't always mean it actually went through to their system. What worked for me was printing out the confirmation page that shows the upload was successful, then when I called I could reference the exact timestamp and file names. Also keep track of how many files you uploaded vs what they show on their end - sometimes only some of them make it through. The whole system is honestly a nightmare but hang in there!

Anyone else feel like we need a complete overhaul of this system? It's 2023, why are we still dealing with lost documents and hour-long hold times? 🤔

This exact thing happened to me last month! I uploaded my son's birth certificate twice and still got that letter. Turns out their system had a glitch and wasn't properly processing PDF files over a certain size. I ended up having to compress the file and re-upload it as a smaller PDF. Also make sure you're uploading it in the right section - I accidentally put mine under "medical documents" instead of "relationship verification" the first time 🤦‍♀️ Keep screenshots of everything you upload with timestamps as proof!

anyone else feel like we need a complete overhaul of the unemployment system? 🤔 this stuff happens way too often

I went through something similar a few months ago! Definitely don't deposit those checks - you're smart for not cashing them. When I called EDD, they told me to keep the physical checks as proof and they eventually sent me a letter with instructions on how to return them. The key thing is to be proactive about calling them because if you wait too long, they might assume you're trying to keep the money. Also, make sure you have your exact return-to-work date handy when you call - they'll need that info to recalculate everything. Hang in there, it's stressful but totally fixable! 💪